NO. LIVERMORE — At the North Livermore Baptist Church Jan. 31 service the congregation was welcomed by Pastor Bonnie Higgins at 9:30 a.m. to begin the service.

The Call to Worship was read and the Invocation/Lord’s Prayer was recited. The hymns that were sung was “Wonderful Words of Life”, “This Is My Father’s World”, and “The Wonder of It All” with “Go Now in Peace” to complete the service.

The sermon, titled “Noah and the Dove” reading the scriptures of Genesis 8:6-12. Pastor Bonnie began telling the congregation that the Old Testament and the New Testament begin with God and ends with Him, as God is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The Old Testament and the New Testament should not be looked at two different sections of the Bible but should be looked as at one. It is one story from Genesis to Revelation.

Pastor Bonnie explained how Noah and the Ark can be compared to Jesus and the cross. As in Noah’s time, there were men preaching about the coming judgment and they didn’t believe it. Just as we speak of the coming judgment day, many are not believing that day will come either. God is preparing people today, just like in Noah’s time that judgment day is fast approaching. If you think of the ark as the cross, God provided a way for saving the people from the flood that was coming, but the people rejected a safe place to ride out the storm. At the cross, Jesus was put to death to save the people. We can be in the arms of Jesus, if we cling to Him, to ride out the storms we endure now. Many people will either believe, like in Noah’s time, that their good works, or that God won’t let anything happen to them, that they are safe. But if that was true, why would Jesus need to die for our sins? God had a plan, just like with Noah and the Ark, to send Jesus to die for us, laid in a tomb, resurrected on the third day to live, to give us the promise if we believe in Him, accepted Him, we too, would have eternal life with Jesus.

Pastor Bonnie explained that first Noah sent out a raven, to see if it was safe for him and his family to open the windows and the door of the ark. The raven just kept going to and fro, trying to find a safe place to land. The raven represents people who are lost, that are living for this world and not for God. They will never be satisfied with what they have in this world, always wanting more. They don’t realize what they are searching for is what God has to offer. The dove represents a life filled with the Holy Spirit. The dove returned to Noah, just as we can return to God, for safety and His love. When the dove returned to Noah, Noah reached out and brought the dove close to himself. This is just what God does to us, He reaches out to us and bring us to Himself for protection. Just like with Noah, God promised to keep them safe and brought them through the storm. God does that for us, as we go through storms now, He has promised to be with us and to protect us through the storm. As Noah endured the storm, God promised him an end to it. God has promised us an end to our storm on this earth when He sends His Son, Jesus Christ to come back and bring us home.

Announcements listed in the bulletin was that the congregation will be collecting canned fruit for the food pantry in February. There will be a Deacons’ meeting and a Trustees’ meeting on February 6th. On February 7th with be an Advisory Board meeting. The AA meetings are held on Friday nights at the church.

For information, check out the new website at northlivermorebaptistchurch.org. Also, on the North Livermore Baptist Church’s Facebook page the sermon is posted and on their website is a link to YouTube for the sermon. You can email the church at nlbcmaine@gmail.com. Pastor Bonnie’s office hours are Monday and Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. (If there is a no school day in the school district, Pastor Bonnie will not be in the church’s office that day)

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